00:00In our topics, amid debates of national sovereignty and a complex geopolitical situation,
00:04Iceland is set to vote on referendum to open accession talks with the European Union
00:09as a potential first step to joining the bloc.
00:11Iceland's referendum on August 29 is expected to be a close fight race,
00:16with opinion polls showing near-dead heat between those who want Iceland to hold talks
00:21on joining the bloc and opponents who say the North Atlantic country should remain independent.
00:26The country is a member of the NATO military alliance and belongs to the European Economic Area
00:31and the Schengen Free Travel Zone.
00:33Iceland's decision is whether to continue going it alone successfully
00:37and maintain control of precious natural resources or strengthen ties with Europe
00:42to better insulate itself from geopolitical instability and gain benefits such as the more stable euro currency.
00:49This comes after repeated threats by United States President Donald Trump
00:53of annexing Greenland, raising concern among Icelandic voters.
01:01If I always ask my colleagues, being from Ireland or Finland or Luxembourg,
01:07or a smaller country inside the European Union,
01:10if they have lost in a way their sovereignty or independence,
01:16they look at me like I'm a crazy woman and what kind of question are you asking?
01:19And actually they say it on the contrary, we have succeeded and we have got stronger being a part of
01:27a bigger group.
01:27And actually you saw that very quite clearly during the Greenland episode
01:33when the European Union and the bigger and smaller countries of the Union stood steadfast.
01:40That is so important for us to see a group of like-minded nations stand together on principles and values.
01:49And that is also what I'm looking at when I see the European Union in this volatile world.
01:58I think we can't really trust the U.S. anymore.
02:01There was a lot of fear once everyone realized that Trump was not joking about Greenland.
02:07There was a lot of fear here in Iceland because if he takes Greenland with force,
02:11we're probably going to be next.
02:12The least clear years but,
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